Pond

San Bernardino County sheriff's officials are investigating the death of a man whose body was discovered floating in a pond at the Silver Lakes country club by several golfers Sunday morning. Arden Wiltshire, a San Bernardino Sheriff's Department spokeswoman, said investigators believe the man was walking home across the golf course, intoxicated, when he stumbled into the pond and drowned. The man, identified as Christopher Batzell, 46, is believed to be a resident of the Silver Lakes community, which is north of Victorville.

Ms. [Diane] Pucin encourages Duck and King fans "to have some fun and leave a little blood on and off the ice." I took my 8-year-old son to a Yankees/Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium wearing his Red Sox hat. Four brave men made him remove his hat. During the game that day there was a fight somewhere in the stands at any given moment. It is a pleasure to see young families at the games, something that I suspect are a rarity at her Rangers/Flyers example. The fans at the Pond may lack Pucin's thirst for blood, but I don't go to see the fans bloody each other.

Four-year-old Ryan Eschleman was trapped in Grandma's car as it filled with the brackish, frigid water of the pond. On the other side of the rear window, a man pounded against the glass, desperately trying to break it. Other would-be rescuers were in trouble nearby. A woman was floating, face down. Under the water, a man was unconscious, unseen, and a valiant police officer also struggled beneath the surface. Ryan's knuckles were white as he clutched the headrest of the back seat.

What's wrong with the Walt Disney Co.? The Pond, Mighty Ducks, Disneyland? The Kings--yes! We are talking about an unknown, unproven, misnamed, mysterious hockey team ("Bill for Duck Seats Not Cheap," March 16). Before I would pay these high ticket prices, the Mighty Ducks would have to prove themselves to me. Yes, I was thinking about tickets at the Pond, but like Disneyland, I think not! Both attractions have priced themselves right out of my budget. Perhaps the Pond will give children a break and let them go ice skating at a decent price.

An earthen dam holding back a retention pond broke at a power plant run by the nation's largest public utility, releasing a frigid mix of water, ash and mud that damaged 12 homes and put hundreds of acres of rural land underwater. The 40-acre pond was used by the Tennessee Valley Authority to hold ash from the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant in Harriman. Authorities said no one was seriously injured or hospitalized.

A Rancho Mission Viejo worker died Saturday night saving the life of a drowning 16-year-old in a swimming pond in the Santa Ana foothills, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Salvadore Uribe, 46, who lived at the ranch on Ortega Highway, was one of several employees who were fishing and swimming at the pond when he saw the teen in distress.

A 9-year-old boy who spent 40 minutes under the icy water of a small pond remained in a coma Wednesday, and his doctor said it was too early to speculate whether the youngster will recover. "Odds are against him fully recovering, but odds were against him being here now. He is beating the odds so far," said Dr. Fred Tecklenburg, director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Medical University of South Carolina. "There is no guarantee he will survive or survive intact," Tecklenburg said.

An ice-skating trip at a small pond in Cedar Grove ended tragically when a young girl fell through the ice and her father plunged in to try to save her. Authorities searching with divers and boats recovered their bodies. The 44-year-old man and his two daughters, ages 9 and 6, were skating on the football-field-sized pond when the older girl fell through the ice, Sheboygan County Sheriff's Sgt. Doug Tuttle said. The 6-year-old ran to a nearby home for help.